


Scar Care

by Kiiratam



Series: The Weissian Conspiracy [12]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Adults talk about their feelings, Canon Compliant, Despite a poor first showing, F/F, Good Cat Dad, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 12:16:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20407621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiiratam/pseuds/Kiiratam
Summary: Yang and Ghira have a second talk.Takes place between Volumes 5 and 6, three days before the start of Volume 6. During dinner of Almost Normal Again. (My BMBLB fic index)





	Scar Care

Yang knew what she was inviting when she went off into the courtyard by herself. The Belladonnas and Ilia were over for dinner, and Blake had stuck by her side all evening. All but interposing herself between her father and Yang. Still trying to protect her.

  
It was already too late for that. The damage had been done, days earlier, when Ghira had lured Yang out in this courtyard. Contacting her from a White Fang scroll, pretending that he could keep Yang from ever seeing Blake again. That alone was bad enough, but then Ghira had wanted to talk. To take Yang's measure. Like she was a sword he was considering buying for his daughter.

  
Wasn't that what fathers did, though? Did Yang really think that her own dad wouldn't want to interrogate Blake?

  
He probably would. But probably not as- Yang tried to think of an appropriate word. 'Clinically' was wrong. Ghira had been acting on emotions the whole time, and he clearly wasn't looking for a dispassionate analysis of Yang. 'Effectively'? Ghira had clearly been drawing upon his years of practice as a civic agitator and public speaker, throwing her off-balance, trying to get her to show who she really was. Yang's dad was a gearhead, like his daughters. Machines made sense to him. People didn't always. But Yang liked to think that he wouldn't have started off by treating Blake like an enemy.

  
"Miss Xiao Long?"

  
There he was. She wasn't sure what had kept him. Blake had been trapped in conversation with her mother.

  
Yang looked up from where she was sitting, at the bottom of the steps overlooking the courtyard. "Ready for round two?" She started getting to her feet.

  
Mr. Belladonna had stepped to the side, leaving her a clear path to the door. Outside of his reach. "That's not why I'm here."

  
"Of course it is." Yang stretched out her neck, fell into a nice even stance. Ready to sink for stability, or bounce up for speed.

  
He walked down the steps, looking out across the courtyard, and Mistral beyond. "I know you were listening last time, Yang. Don't try to convince me now that you're an idiot. My daughter doesn't fall in love with idiots."

  
"I thought you didn't like Adam."

  
He turned to face her. "I don't. I'd try to hunt him down myself, if I thought I had any chance of winning. But he's not an idiot. Don't underestimate him because he lost. Blake out-maneuvered him, turned Ilia against him, galvanized Menagerie into action. Adam did the smart thing when out-maneuvered. He ran. He could have stayed, kept his reputation, and never seen the outside of a cell again. He may have lost the White Fang, but he's still a very dangerous person. Adam is free, and he's not an idiot. He'll be back." Ghira looked down, saw her arm shaking. "And you need to be ready for him."

  
"Stop trying to scare me."

  
"No." He shook his head. "But I'm not trying to scare you. I'm telling you that Adam _will_ be back. I don't know when. Maybe a miracle will happen, and he'll realize what a fool he's been, these past seven years. Maybe he'll wander into Kuo Kuana a wiser man, hand over Wilt and Blush, and accept his punishment. But I doubt it. But Adam isn't the kind of man to stay hidden. He needs to be seen, to be worshiped, to be feared."

  
Yang squeezed her shaking metal hand in her natural hand, holding both of them against her stomach. "Please stop."

  
Ghira looked at her, his face suddenly softening. "I'm sorry. Like you said, we're similar. Charging ahead, not thinking. I-" He stopped, trying to force the next words out. "I'm not good at this. I came here to apologize to you. To thank you for what you did for my daughter."

  
Focusing on her breathing, Yang tried to get her new arm to stop shaking, squeezing it into a fist and then releasing it. Mr. Belladonna stood there in silence, waiting. Yang blew out a breath, lifted her arm. Steady again. She looked at him. "Your daughter saved herself. And me."

  
"That isn't what she says." His eyes flickered inside, finding his daughter. "But I don't think arguing about it is going to help. _Blake_ is convinced that she owes you."

  
Yang looked down. "She doesn't. Not for that. She saved all of me that she could."

  
"But then she left."

  
She nodded. "But she's back. She's the only one that came back. I found Ruby again after she left. I found my mom, and she left me again. I found Weiss again, in a freak accident. But Blake came back to me." Yang blinked, determined not to break down in tears in front of Ghira. Again. "She saved me when I got in over my head, and she came back. I owe her."

  
Ghira looked at her for a long moment. "However you reckon the praise and blame, you're why I have my daughter back. After years of trying to keep track of her, hoping that she wouldn't go too far, hoping she'd be safe."

  
"I didn't do anything. I didn't tell her, 'hey, if you ever abandon RWBY, you should go back to your parents.' Stop thanking me for Blake's choices."

  
"Yang, you won't accept my thanks for saving my daughter's life. For losing your arm trying to save her."

  
"Because all I did was charge blindly on! And you made it very clear what you thought of that last time!" Yang found herself shouting. Tried to continue in a level tone. "You said you don't like me. Stop trying."

  
"No." Ghira smiled at her. "I didn't like you. But I'm a bitter old man, and Blake does like you. And I love my daughter. So I'm going to keep trying."

  
"Why?"

  
Ghira snorted. "What are you, five?" He stopped. "But the philosophers asked the same questions. Because it worked." He thought for a second. "I didn't like you because that's the natural impulse of fathers when anyone else is in love with their daughters. Or, at least, I've seen it often enough that it seems natural. I certain felt the same thing when-" Ghira skipped over the last part of that thought. "I'm a bitter old man because I watched an organization I poured my soul into go rogue, and start murdering people. Under the direction of a woman I thought I knew."

  
Yang folded her arms. At least this round, there was less screaming and crying. She waited.

  
"You know better than me why Blake likes you, so I'm not going to pretend to start to explain that." Ghira waited for Yang to nod in confirmation, then went on. "I love my daughter because that is how families should act. Bound together by love, choice, and blood. I love my wife, we chose to have a child, and I love that child. I trust that the bonds of emotion are not alien to you? Because if you want a complete outsider's perspective, there are some Atlasian social scientists who I can recommend."

  
Biting her lip, Yang tried not to snort in laughter. "Maybe later."

  
"And the tough one, why am I going to keep trying to like you? Lots of answers to that one. Because I don't want my daughter to leave again, because the person she loves is unacceptable to her parents. Because I love my daughter, and she's an adult, and I need to be able to trust her judgment. Because you remind me of myself, and treating you right can only be healthy for me as well. Because you've proven yourself to be a good person, and I need to be able to adjust my opinion of people. Whether its because they changed, or because I learned more about them. Because you impressed me last time."

  
Yang nodded. "All right."

  
Ghira laughed. "That's it? You're satisfied?"

  
"I don't think I can make you stop. And really, now that I've had time to think about it, 'no, don't like me' isn't a great argument." She tried to smile broadly. It mostly worked. "And frankly? I've got too many other problems. Grimm and worse. If I start worrying about who likes me, I won't have time for anything else." Yang shook her head, held out her metal hand. "Draw for now?"

  
He nodded, took a few steps forward to shake her hand. "I look forward to more polite discussions with you, Yang."

  
"Just give me more than five minutes warning, Mr. Belladonna. I think I'm going to go inside now. Have a cookie, if Ruby hasn't eaten all of them."

  
"I'll stay out here for a few minutes longer, I think."

  
"I'll try to save a few cookies for you."


End file.
